Graffiti like you have never seen before

Usually when people talk about graffiti, it is taken in a negative way. Generally it is seen as youths using spray paint to destroy walls and objects on the streets as an aggressive form of art. Bristol, however, is a city which has learnt to embrace graffiti and the city now boasts an array of famous graffiti artists, who decorate the streets with their expressive art. Credit to the Bristol local authority for allowing many of these iconic artist to have a home in the city.

By far the most famous graffiti artist to grace Bristol is Banksy. Known for his spray can artistry across the world, Banksy began his humble beginnings in the city of Bristol. There are a few roads where you can see where the early Banksy begin to ply his trade. Some of his original work now resides in the Bristol Art Gallery. Nowadays, a Banksy piece on the streets can sell for multiple thousands of pounds. Interestingly, although Banksy is know to have originated in Bristol, not many people know who the phantom graffiti artist is, adding to the allure and appeal of his works.

With such a strong history embracing the street art, Bristol has a number of graffiti tours and workshops that are used to educate people about the artform but also give them the opportunity to express themselves in an unconventional way.

The largest celebration of this is the Upfest festival in Bedminster, Bristol. Upfest is an annual event, that is the largest live street festival in Europe, boasting over 300 artists over 40 venues, covering 50,000 square foot of surfaces with crowds of over 50,000 not uncommon. This year they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary, cementing Bristol’s crown as an open and cultural city that has embraced the urban art form.

The best way to see the art in Bristol is to go on one of the walking tours. These tours will take you all over the streets of Bristol showing you some of the art that has been around for some time and in some places the newest editions to the city’s walls. What is great about the tour is if you go once and go on the same tour a few months later, there are bound to be some more pieces that have popped up across the city. Although these tours typically last 2 hours or more, but because you are in the company of some esteemed artists, you find yourself being immersed in the magic of the expressive art form and the time just flies by.